ALL to mobilize Personhood movement at Washington D.C. activism conference

Washington, DC (17 December 2009) –American Life League will bring together top activists, intellectuals and grassroots supporters behind the growing human personhood movement Jan 20 – 23 for their annual Training and Activism Week during the nation's largest pro-life gathering.

The personhood campaign has rocked the pro-life movement in the past year, with over a dozen states now working toward passing personhood amendments to state constitutions, in order to define all human beings as persons from the beginning of their biological development.

In 2009, four nationwide polls indicated a majority of Americans now self-identify as pro-life. In the wake of this news, an estimated half million pro-lifers will descend on Washington, D.C. Jan. 22 to mark the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion.

"The message we're hearing from the grassroots is that the time is now to fight for human rights and end abortion," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and other human rights pioneers, personhood for all human beings just makes sense."

The conference will feature a diverse group of speakers Jan. 21, who will give talks and lead workshops on the philosophy, science, law and strategy behind the movement.

Among them are prominent black religious leaders Rev. Stephen Broden, Rev. Clenard Childress Jr. and Rev. Dr. Johnny Hunter, who will speak on personhood as the fulfillment of the civil rights movement.

InsideCatholic.com editor Deal Hudson will speak on the personhood movement in light of Catholic social teaching; Georgetown University professor and medical ethicist Dianne Irving, Ph.D., on the philosophy of personhood; attorney Robert Muise on the movement’s legal implications; and Personhood USA founder Keith Mason on the grassroots fire that has ignited the pro-life movement like never before.

"We're proud to host this dynamic team of presenters for what will certainly be a pivotal moment for the personhood movement," Brown said. "As the nation stands poised to embrace true justice for all human beings from their first moment of existence, we welcome all to join us at Training and Activism Week 2010."